November 18, 2016

Miniature in the Mail #36: "Tunnel Vision"

"Tunnel Vision," 5x5in., oil on masonite

This jumble of pipes and wires in an industrial building in downtown L.A. caught my attention. The fact it was in L.A. reminded me of the film Blade Runner.

(Which I learned was based on Philip K. Dick's novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?Dick lived down the road and his manuscripts and papers are held in a special collection at Aitana's university).

I almost cheesed out and called the painting "The Light at the End of the Tunnel," but I checked myself and went with "Tunnel Vision" instead, apter phrasing for the current civic atmosphere.

I know, the commandment is to be positive and bubbly. Someone will show up and make it all better, perhaps Harry Houdini. But here's a chilling bit of buzzkill to chew over along with your turkey this American Thanksgiving. It's from the filmmaker Billy Wilder in 1945: "The optimists died in the gas chambers, the pessimists have pools in Beverly Hills."